This Is All My Fault
by ImagineATale
Summary: Oneshot based mostly on 2017 movie with nods to the 1991 movie and stage adaptation. Extended death scene dialog before transformation. And Belle's declaration of love placed in a slightly different spot than any of the aforementioned adaptations.


**In this oneshot, I'm sort of extending the death scene that takes place after Gaston falls and before the curse takes over the staff completely. It's based on the 2017 movie but has an element of the 1991 movie, that being Belle blaming herself for the state Beast is in. I decided to explore a scenario where Beast knows he won't survive but tries desperately to hang on long enough to convince her not to feel guilty. There're a couple nods to stage adaptation dialog (can anyone figure out what those are?) and he might at least get to hear her confess her love.**

He lay on the cold hard balcony floor. He was dying, in pain and laboring for each breath. This was the result of receiving three bullets from behind. Because that's the kind of coward Gaston was. A cowardly backshooter. Not one shot could this man who fancied himself a great hunter and hero deliver looking into the face of his prey. And to think the final two shots occurred _after_ Beast had spared his life, deciding not to drop him to his demise as he had contemplated. Gaston did still fall to his demise though, the part of the castle he stood on breaking off after his final shot was fired. Had he left as the Beast told him to do without insisting on the final attack, he might have gotten to safety before his perch fell from under him. But he didn't. And if the castle had broken, sending the hunter plummeting before he fired his second shot, Beast wouldn't have been fatally wounded. Perhaps even if Gaston had fallen before the third shot the Beast may have been able to recover.

But none of that mattered now. Three shots had been fired, and Beast knew the third, if not the second, would prove fatal. He looked up at Belle who knelt at his side.

"You came back," he said weakly.

"Of course I came back," Belle said, fighting back tears. "I couldn't let them..." but she _had_ let them. She did not escape the asylum wagon and get there fast enough to warn him. "This is all my fault. If only I'd come sooner. I'm so sorry Beast."

"Belle," he whispered. "Don't do this. Please...don't torture yourself."

"But it's true," Belle said. "I didn't think. I just acted. They were trying to have my father committed for having delusions of a beast holding me captive. I tried to tell them there was a Beast but they didn't believe me. So without thinking I pulled out the mirror and...I exposed you. I should have known what Gaston would do. Oh Beast I'm so, so sorry."

Sobbing, Belle rested her head on his shoulder. With much effort, he raised a paw to place on her shoulder.

"Belle," Beast said weakly, fighting to hold onto life long enough to get her to stop blaming herself. "You...had to...prove his sanity..."

"I should have found a way to do it without harming you," she said, lifting her head to once more look into his eyes.

"You didn't...harm me Belle," he said. "Gaston did..."

"I'm just as responsible," Belle said. "I know he's a hunter. I know he had this big hero complex. Yet I let him see you. And he riled the mob. They threw me in the asylum wagon with Papa so I couldn't come warn you. We managed to escape but I got here too late. I might as well have fired those bullets."

"You're being...too hard on yourself..." Beast whispered. "You were in an...impossible situation..."

He was weakening, and his paw fell from her shoulder and he grasped her hand weakly.

"What's important is...you came back."

"I'll never leave you again," Belle vowed.

"I'm afraid it's my turn to leave," came Beast's weak response. "I can only hope you can stop blaming yourself for this..."

"We're together now," Belle whispered. "It's going to be fine."

"No..." he said. He was fading fast, and he knew it. He could see the pain in Belle's eyes and wished he could stay.

"It's going to be all right," Belle said. "Just hold on...please...stay with me."

He wanted to hold on, and to stay. Even if he had to remain a Beast, and the last petal may have fallen for all he knew. But if Belle would be with him, it would be bearable, and he knew that whether or not she went so far as to love him, his death would bring her a pain he did not wish to bring her. But he was so weak now. He couldn't hang on much longer.

"At least...I got to see you...one last time..."

"Please," Belle whispered, tears refusing to be held back now. "I love you."

The words he wanted to hear. He didn't know if a petal remained. If it did, perhaps the curse could be lifted and maybe he'd be healed. But he knew being healed wasn't likely. If he could just tell her he loved her before passing from this world. If he could say the words he wanted to say before he had to let her go. Maybe knowing he loved her would at least be of some comfort to her. He squeezed her hand as hard as he could, which, given his weakened state, really wasn't hard at all.

"Belle...I..."

But all strength left him now. His paw's grip on her hand relaxed. His head lolled to the floor and his eyes glazed as his final breath left him.

"No," Belle said. "Please no! Come back!"

And she sobbed into his lifeless body.


End file.
